Steve Glischinski
Match the initials below to the Map of the Month in the May 2011 issue of Trains Magazine. The three-page foldout map will show you which recreational trails 10 miles or longer in the United States were fashioned from abandoned railroad lines. We mapped 415 trails in all (strung together, they would stretch 11,830 miles!). The map identifies each trail’s predecessor railroad by initials. The glossary below is your decoder key.
Congress approved railbanking in 1983 to save abandoned corridors. If for some reason, a railroad wants to reactivate an abandoned rail corridor, it can do so by filing with the Surface Transportation Board. However, instances of reactivation are rare. Near Council Bluffs, Iowa, a new spur to a power plant required reactivating about 350 feet to cross an abandoned Wabash line that had become a trail. In St. Louis, Union Pacific rebuilt a tail track 1,100 feet along a trail to serve an industry. Most other rail activations that have occurred since the Rail Trail Act was passed involved reopening tracks that were never torn up, the exception being a former Illinois Central branch in southern Illinois and Indiana that a new shortline operator filed to reactivate to serve a proposed ethanol plant.
For more, visit the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy web site, or do a Google search for trails near you.
If you’re eager to hike and watch trains at the same time, check out our list of Rails with Trails, detailing trails next to active rail lines, here.
And match the 146 railroads below to the foldout map in Trains Magazine’s May 2011 issue.
A&E Alton & Eastern
A&W Ahnapee & Western
AA Ann Arbor
ACL Atlantic Coast Line
AEFR Aurora Elgin & Fox River
ARR Alaska
APACHE Apache
ATSF Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
AVR Aroostook Valley
B&A Baltimore & Annapolis
B&M Boston & Maine
B&O Baltimore & Ohio
BA Boston & Albany
BAR Bangor & Aroostook
BCLR Bay Colony
BN Burlington Northern
BNSF BNSF Railway
C&I Cambria & Indiana
C&NW Chicago & North Western
C&O Chesapeake & Ohio
CA&D Chicago, Aurora & DeKalb
CA&E Chicago Aurora & Elgin
CB&Q Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
CGW Chicago Great Western
CIN Chicago & Indiana
CM Central Michigan
CMO Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (Omaha Road)
CNJ Central Railroad Co. of New Jersey
CNS&M Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee
COPR Copper Range
CR Conrail
CSCCD Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District
CSX CSX Transportation
CV Central Vermont
CWR Chehalis Western
D&H Delaware & Hudson
D&RGW Denver & Rio Grande Western
DAKR Dakota Rail
DB&W Denver, Boulder & Western
DL&W Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
DM Detroit & Mackinac
DM&IR Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range
DSP&P Denver, South Park & Pacific
DT&I Detroit, Toledo & Ironton
EHLC E. Hines Lumber Co.
EJ&E Elgin, Joliet & Eastern
EL Erie Lackawanna
ERIE Erie
FEC Florida East Coast
FJ&G Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville
FORD Ford Motor Co.
GB&W Green Bay & Western
GN Great Northern
GTW Grand Trunk Western
IAIS Iowa Interstate
IANR Iowa Northern
IC Illinois Central
ICG Illinois Central Gulf
IMTN Intermountain
INPR Idaho Northern & Pacific
IRN Ironton
ISR Iowa Southern
IT Illinois Terminal
KCS Kansas City Southern
KWTR Keota Washington
L&N Louisville & Nashville
LAM Lithonia & Arabia Mountain
LS&I Lake Superior & Ishpeming
LV Lehigh Valley
M&StL Minneapolis & St. Louis
M&WR Montpelier & Wells River
MAN Manistique
MEC Maine Central
METRA Metra
MIGN Michigan Northern
MILW Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (Milwaukee Road)
MKT Missouri-Kansas-Texas
MLS Manistique & Lake Superior
MNE Manistee & North Eastern
MON Monon
MP Missouri Pacific
MTR Montour
MV Midland Valley
MW Minnesota Western
MWRY Mineral Wells & Eastern
N&W Norfolk & Western
NH New York, New Haven & Hartford
NKP New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate)
NP Northern Pacific
NS Norfolk Southern
NYC New York Central
NYO&W New York, Ontario & Western
NYS&W New York, Susquehanna & Western
OBR Orange Belt
OC Ohio Central
OC&E Oregon, California & Eastern
OP&E Oregon, Pacific & Eastern
OR&L Oahu Railway & Land
OTVR Otter Tail Valley
OWR&N Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation
P&LE Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
P&W Providence & Worcester
PARY Prairie Trunk
PC Penn Central
PE Pacific Electric
PM Pere Marquette
POE Penn-Ohio Electric
PRR Pennsylvania
PRSL Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines
PRTD Portland Traction
PSER Puget Sound Electric
PSR Petaluma & Santa Rosa
RDG Reading Co.
RGS Rio Grande Southern
RI Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
RUT Rutland
S&T Sheffield & Tionesta
SAL Seaboard Air Line
SCL Seaboard Coast Line
SDAE San Diego & Arizona Eastern
SFS Santa Fe Southern
SGVY Saginaw Valley
SLSF St. Louis-San Francisco
SN Sacramento Northern
SOO Soo Line
SOU Southern
SP Southern Pacific
SP&S Spokane, Portland & Seattle
SR Slate Run
ST Springfield Terminal
T&P Texas & Pacific
TMERL The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light
TNER Texas Northeastern
TSBY Tuscola & Saginaw Bay
UIC Utah-Idaho Central
UP Union Pacific
USN U.S. Navy
W&LE Wheeling & Lake Erie
W&OD Washington & Old Dominion
WAB Wabash
WICT Wisconsin & Calumet
WLO Waterloo
WM Western Maryland
WSL West Side Lumber
WT Weyerhauser Timber
WYCO Wyoming & Colorado
Congress approved railbanking in 1983 to save abandoned corridors. If for some reason, a railroad wants to reactivate an abandoned rail corridor, it can do so by filing with the Surface Transportation Board. However, instances of reactivation are rare. Near Council Bluffs, Iowa, a new spur to a power plant required reactivating about 350 feet to cross an abandoned Wabash line that had become a trail. In St. Louis, Union Pacific rebuilt a tail track 1,100 feet along a trail to serve an industry. Most other rail activations that have occurred since the Rail Trail Act was passed involved reopening tracks that were never torn up, the exception being a former Illinois Central branch in southern Illinois and Indiana that a new shortline operator filed to reactivate to serve a proposed ethanol plant.
For more, visit the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy web site, or do a Google search for trails near you.
If you’re eager to hike and watch trains at the same time, check out our list of Rails with Trails, detailing trails next to active rail lines, here.
And match the 146 railroads below to the foldout map in Trains Magazine’s May 2011 issue.
A&E Alton & Eastern
A&W Ahnapee & Western
AA Ann Arbor
ACL Atlantic Coast Line
AEFR Aurora Elgin & Fox River
ARR Alaska
APACHE Apache
ATSF Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
AVR Aroostook Valley
B&A Baltimore & Annapolis
B&M Boston & Maine
B&O Baltimore & Ohio
BA Boston & Albany
BAR Bangor & Aroostook
BCLR Bay Colony
BN Burlington Northern
BNSF BNSF Railway
C&I Cambria & Indiana
C&NW Chicago & North Western
C&O Chesapeake & Ohio
CA&D Chicago, Aurora & DeKalb
CA&E Chicago Aurora & Elgin
CB&Q Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
CGW Chicago Great Western
CIN Chicago & Indiana
CM Central Michigan
CMO Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (Omaha Road)
CNJ Central Railroad Co. of New Jersey
CNS&M Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee
COPR Copper Range
CR Conrail
CSCCD Colorado Springs & Cripple Creek District
CSX CSX Transportation
CV Central Vermont
CWR Chehalis Western
D&H Delaware & Hudson
D&RGW Denver & Rio Grande Western
DAKR Dakota Rail
DB&W Denver, Boulder & Western
DL&W Delaware, Lackawanna & Western
DM Detroit & Mackinac
DM&IR Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range
DSP&P Denver, South Park & Pacific
DT&I Detroit, Toledo & Ironton
EHLC E. Hines Lumber Co.
EJ&E Elgin, Joliet & Eastern
EL Erie Lackawanna
ERIE Erie
FEC Florida East Coast
FJ&G Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville
FORD Ford Motor Co.
GB&W Green Bay & Western
GN Great Northern
GTW Grand Trunk Western
IAIS Iowa Interstate
IANR Iowa Northern
IC Illinois Central
ICG Illinois Central Gulf
IMTN Intermountain
INPR Idaho Northern & Pacific
IRN Ironton
ISR Iowa Southern
IT Illinois Terminal
KCS Kansas City Southern
KWTR Keota Washington
L&N Louisville & Nashville
LAM Lithonia & Arabia Mountain
LS&I Lake Superior & Ishpeming
LV Lehigh Valley
M&StL Minneapolis & St. Louis
M&WR Montpelier & Wells River
MAN Manistique
MEC Maine Central
METRA Metra
MIGN Michigan Northern
MILW Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (Milwaukee Road)
MKT Missouri-Kansas-Texas
MLS Manistique & Lake Superior
MNE Manistee & North Eastern
MON Monon
MP Missouri Pacific
MTR Montour
MV Midland Valley
MW Minnesota Western
MWRY Mineral Wells & Eastern
N&W Norfolk & Western
NH New York, New Haven & Hartford
NKP New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate)
NP Northern Pacific
NS Norfolk Southern
NYC New York Central
NYO&W New York, Ontario & Western
NYS&W New York, Susquehanna & Western
OBR Orange Belt
OC Ohio Central
OC&E Oregon, California & Eastern
OP&E Oregon, Pacific & Eastern
OR&L Oahu Railway & Land
OTVR Otter Tail Valley
OWR&N Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation
P&LE Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
P&W Providence & Worcester
PARY Prairie Trunk
PC Penn Central
PE Pacific Electric
PM Pere Marquette
POE Penn-Ohio Electric
PRR Pennsylvania
PRSL Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines
PRTD Portland Traction
PSER Puget Sound Electric
PSR Petaluma & Santa Rosa
RDG Reading Co.
RGS Rio Grande Southern
RI Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
RUT Rutland
S&T Sheffield & Tionesta
SAL Seaboard Air Line
SCL Seaboard Coast Line
SDAE San Diego & Arizona Eastern
SFS Santa Fe Southern
SGVY Saginaw Valley
SLSF St. Louis-San Francisco
SN Sacramento Northern
SOO Soo Line
SOU Southern
SP Southern Pacific
SP&S Spokane, Portland & Seattle
SR Slate Run
ST Springfield Terminal
T&P Texas & Pacific
TMERL The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light
TNER Texas Northeastern
TSBY Tuscola & Saginaw Bay
UIC Utah-Idaho Central
UP Union Pacific
USN U.S. Navy
W&LE Wheeling & Lake Erie
W&OD Washington & Old Dominion
WAB Wabash
WICT Wisconsin & Calumet
WLO Waterloo
WM Western Maryland
WSL West Side Lumber
WT Weyerhauser Timber
WYCO Wyoming & Colorado
